


Jealous

by Joe_Reaves



Series: Jealousy [1]
Category: Primeval
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Jealousy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-15
Updated: 2010-04-15
Packaged: 2017-10-08 23:25:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/80575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joe_Reaves/pseuds/Joe_Reaves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick bumps into Helen somewhere he didn't expect to see her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jealous

Nick parked his car outside Stephen's block of flats and took the stairs to the seventh floor. Normally he'd take the lift and claim that at his age he needed to save his energy for more enjoyable things than climbing fourteen flights of stairs. Stephen always laughed and half the time they ended up well on the way to one of those things in the lift on the way up, the rest of the time he'd take the stairs and bet Nick he'd get home first. Since they'd started ... dating? Sleeping together? Nick wasn't sure exactly what it was. He was a forty-mumble year old man, he was far too old to have a boyfriend and 'partner' sounded too much like what they were at work. Whatever this was it was fun and since they'd started it Stephen's bets had developed much more interesting stakes. Nick really didn't mind that most of the time Stephen was right and he did beat the lift to his floor because losing the bet was sometimes more fun than winning it.

Today he took the stairs though. He had a lot of nervous energy he hadn't been able to let out at the hospital for fear of making Stephen worry, or in the waiting room for fear of making the team worry that Stephen was more badly injured than he really was, and especially not during his brief trip to the ARC to pick up his car for fear of Lester realising he and Stephen were more than just friends now. He wasn't sure what Lester would do if he found out, it wasn't as if he could fire either of them and he didn't think he could really separate them either, although he'd tried that the other day so he might... He didn't want to risk it anyway, whatever Lester did it would no doubt be annoying and they didn't need any more problems than they'd already caused for themselves. Between his and Stephen's problems over Helen, and Abby and Connor becoming more distant by the day partly because of Connor's irritating, according to Abby, girlfriend and partly because neither of them wanted to admit there was anything but friendship and Abby being too soft hearted to make Connor find his own place to live that kept them sharing that flat, their group was already unstable enough.

Even though Stephen was in the hospital, the mission had, he supposed, been a success. They'd returned the mostly peaceful, for once, dinosaurs to the past without having to harm them, property damage had been mercifully minimal, well, minimal for a shopping centre that had had a herd of twenty foot tall herbivorous reptiles rampaging through it anyway - although he doubted it was the definition of 'minimal' Lester had had in mind when he'd dispatched them - and no innocent bystanders had been hurt. The only injury at all had been Stephen and that had been an accident caused by him being in the wrong place when the last dinosaur to go through the anomaly had swished its tail a little incautiously and hurled him into a wall. Still, compared to their usual list of injuries a concussion was nothing and Stephen was insisting he had a hard head and he'd be fine in the morning. Originally he'd been insisting that he didn't need to go to the hospital at all and he certainly didn't need to stay overnight, but a look at Nick's face had made him change his mind.

There were definite advantages, other than the obvious ones, to this whatever it was between him and Stephen, Nick thought. One of them being that Stephen didn't like to worry him so he'd submit to being poked and prodded by the doctors with minimal complaints just to keep Nick from fretting. And then when they got home Nick would perform his own in depth examination to make sure Stephen hadn't been lying about how badly hurt he was and because he'd take any opportunity to get Stephen naked.

He was contemplating the lean beauty that was a naked Stephen when he opened the door to the flat so it took him a couple of seconds to realise he wasn't alone. Stretched out in the bed, naked, as far as he could tell, covered only by a sheet and smiling that deceptively innocent smile of hers, was Helen. She looked almost as surprised to see him as he was to see her but she covered it quickly.

"Nick," she said, stretching languidly and drawing his eyes unwillingly to the lines of her body beneath the sheet. "I thought you were Stephen."

"What the hell are you doing here, Helen?" he growled. "Haven't you caused enough trouble for one lifetime?"

"Didn't Stephen tell you?" she asked. "He really is very good at keeping his little secrets sometimes. I've been visiting him here for quite some time. He didn't want to come back through the anomaly but he still wants me, unlike you, and he's just irresistible." She smiled wickedly. "And so much fun in bed. I can't stay away from him."

"You're lying," Nick ground out. "I don't know what you're up to this time, but stay away from my team. Stay away from Stephen. He doesn't need you around."

Helen's eyebrows shot up to her hair. "Well, well, looks like I'm not the only Cutter he's sleeping with. I always knew you were attracted to him. Tell me, when he's with you does he do that thing with his tongue ..."

"Shut up, Helen," Nick snapped. "He sent me back here to pick up some clothing for him, he wouldn't have done that if he'd known you were here, now would he? So don't think you can just waltz in here and spread your lies because it isn't going to work."

She shrugged carelessly. "I thought I'd surprise him. He loves coming home to find me waiting for him. I was here last week so he probably wasn't expecting me for a while. Or maybe he was hoping you'd find me here. After all he showed last time that he's not very good at telling you about us, perhaps he thought it would be easier for you to find out for yourself?"

"Get out, Helen," Nick growled. "I don't believe you and Stephen's in hospital so there's really no reason for you to stay."

She slipped out from beneath the sheets and padded across the room naked, bending over to pick her clothes up and Nick couldn't help but watch. Her grace and her athletic form were two of the things that had attracted him to her in the first place and she knew it. She turned and looked at him over her shoulder, smiling slowly.

"I'm sure he can do without you for an hour or two, Nick, and we are still married..." She started walking towards him. "What do you say, darling? A little fun for old time's sake? Stephen could hardly consider it cheating since he's already doing both of us. I remember how much fun we used to have before you became so focussed on your work and started ignoring me."

"Get the hell away from me," Nick said, backing up. "I don't want anything to do with you, Helen. As far as I'm concerned we're not married and we haven't been for eight years. You left without a word and couldn't be bothered to even let me know you were still alive because you were too busy playing at being Raquel Welch or maybe Xena Warrior Princess. Stephen was the one who was there when I needed him, not you, and I don't believe he's sleeping with you again."

Helen pouted but started getting dressed. "Well, I'm sure he didn't mean to cheat on you. He's just so devoted to you, anyone can see that, like some kind of annoying puppy that won't stop following you around. He was like that with me too – it's why I didn't come back for him when I found the anomaly. I came here because I was hurt and Stephen just can't resist playing the gentleman. He patched me up, let me take a shower, let me sleep in his bed and, well, one thing just led to another. Some history just can't be forgotten no matter how hard you try and that spark between us was still there. Once we ended up in bed though he wasn't resisting it." She picked up her bag and headed for the door, making sure she brushed past Nick as she left. "I guess there's something he gets from me that you just can't give him. We both know how reserved you are even in bed, Nick. He needs more than that. He needs someone willing to try anything. He's such an adventurous lover. It's not your fault you couldn't keep his interest," she whispered. "But don't worry. I take very good care of him." Swinging her hips she walked out of the flat, leaving Nick behind to worry.

He glared after her and started packing a bag for Stephen. Clean clothes for tomorrow, a book just in case they wouldn't let him stay and keep him company, shaving kit and wash bag because he hated looking scruffy even when he was only going to see the nurses and Nick, his wallet and keys were already in Nick's jacket, collected from the ARC earlier... Nick looked around, satisfying himself that that was everything and then ran his hand through his hair. He wasn't going to pay any attention to Helen's words. She was just trying to stir up trouble again. Stephen wouldn't cheat on him, he wasn't like that. That was Helen's thing not his and he wasn't going to project his issues from his marriage onto Stephen. He wasn't.

She'd looked right at home in the bed though and her story about turning up injured and Stephen looking after her sounded like something he'd do. He couldn't resist a damsel in distress even when the damsel in question was the least helpless woman he'd ever met and one who'd hurt him in the past. Nick growled. No, he wasn't going to do this. Even if Stephen had helped her, which he might have he had to admit, he wouldn't have slept with her. He wouldn't. She could be very seductive when she wanted to be though and Stephen had been utterly devoted to her before she disappeared, her words at the anomaly had made that clear and he'd never disagreed with it.

Still a twenty-three year old boy wasn't the same as a thirty-two year old man. Just because Stephen had been willing to do anything for her back then, didn't mean he still would. If he'd wanted her all that much he would have gone though the anomaly with her. Unless he'd been too busy sulking at being her second choice. She had asked Nick first. But now, she'd come back and she hadn't come looking for Nick, she'd gone to Stephen, could that have made him change his mind? Was he regretting staying here with Nick? He didn't seem to regret it, but it had to be hard, the secrecy and everything. The team, Connor and Abby at any rate, probably knew about them but they'd never told anyone. Stephen had had two serious relationships in his life, both with people who wanted to hide him away and wouldn't acknowledge him in public; both with Cutters.

Nick bit his lip. Stephen deserved more than that, did he think he could have that with Helen? She'd shown back at the anomaly that she didn't mind going public about their affair now. And then there was the timing of their own... thing, whatever it was. It hadn't happened until after Helen had come back and then left again. Was Stephen just reaching for the closest thing to Helen he thought he could have? Was he using Nick as a substitute?

Nick slammed the door as he stomped out of the flat. This was stupid. He hadn't had any doubts about their 'thing' until Helen turned up and now he was listening to her and worrying? He must be stupid. She was deliberately trying to hurt him because he'd told her no when she asked him to come with her. She'd never taken rejection very well; this was obviously her idea of revenge. Although... he didn't even know what their relationship was, so maybe he did have doubts. Were they dating or just sleeping together? How did Stephen really feel about him, was it just sex to the younger man or was there more there?

He tossed Stephen's bag in the back seat of his car and peeled out from the curb a lot more violently than he normally would. There was only one way to find out, he was going to have to talk to Stephen. He'd tell him about Helen's visit and ask if he was helping her. He absolutely would not ask if Stephen was cheating on him. He owed Stephen his trust and respect and wasn't going to accuse him of something just on Helen's word. He'd ask about her visit and then he'd ask about their relationship, find out where he stood with Stephen. He would be calm and reasonable and absolutely wouldn't, under any circumstances, mention her insistence that they'd rekindled their sexual relationship. He took a deep breath. Right, he had a plan, that's what he needed. Now he had a plan he could be calm and not do anything stupid. Pasting a smile onto his face he parked the car and headed into the hospital. Calm, trusting, respectful; nothing stupid, he repeated to himself. Opening the door to Stephen's room he dropped the bag by the bed.

"You're sleeping with Helen again!"


End file.
